Signal tracking is one of the most demanding functions performed by a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver. In order to track incoming satellite navigation signals, the receiver needs a number of correlators, and the number of correlators used within a receiver has a direct impact on the power consumed by the receiver and the processing resources needed to implement the receiver. With the upcoming introduction of new GNSS signal frequencies and new GNSS constellations (e.g., Galileo and BeiDou) in addition to the Global Position System (GPS), the number of available GNSS signals a GNSS receiver may need to track is increasing meaning that GNSS receivers designed to be compatible with more than one GNSS constellation will become increasingly complex. Consequently, the increased number of available signals will result in GNSS receiver designs requiring more processing power that lead to higher power consumption and increasing costs, especially for receivers that simultaneously process navigation signals for all satellites in-view to the receiver.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for global navigation satellite system signal tracking.